Circumstances are everything.
My climb up Mid Pal was my 10th 14'er the summer of '07. I had done all with my 16 yr. old son. With such great success on our first 9 ascents, I got cocky and sloppy on #10.
We did not understand the route instructions and believed that we were to take the right fork at each opportunity. We had not yet done any 4th or 5th class climbing at this point and did not have a rope. We kept climbing onto steeper and steeper rock because we "knew" we were on the right route and the right route is class 3. Before we knew it we were too high on too steep of rock to down climb. We had stashed our emergency sleeping bag, poncho, extra food and extra water at about 13,000' to speed up our progress - before it got so steep. Now our progress was a creep as we were on rock like we had never seen before. Eventually we got to the crest, at the opposite end of the ridge (north) from the summit. We had to traverse around a spire on the ridge that afforded unbelievable exposure on the west side. Mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted we spent the night at 14,000 on an 8 x 8 granite platform on the spine of the ridge. We had full fleece,rain pants and hooded rain coat...and the night was mild, but we still were unable to sleep due to the low temp. Every 20 minutes or so we went through a little exercise routine to quell the shivers. Endless games of 20 questions interviened. In the AM we made a hairy traverse of the ridge to the summit and made our way down the correct route. It is my only "EPIC" and I hope not to have another.
This July we climbed Mt. Sill we hiked from South Lake over Bishop Pass and camped on Thunderbolt Pass. In the morning we hiked over Potluck Pass and up the drainage to the SW chutes on Sill. Up one chute to the summit and down another. Back to Thunderbolt for the night, back to South Lake the next day, Pizza in Bishop.
Mt. Sill was easier than Mid Pal, but it all depends on the circumstances!
